Earnings Press Release Q3-FY'19

Los Angeles, CA, March 7, 2019 – Korn Ferry (NYSE: KFY), a global organizational consulting firm, today announced third quarter fee revenue of $474.5 million. Third quarter diluted earnings per share was $0.80 and Adjusted diluted earnings per share was $0.81. Adjusted diluted earnings per share for the third quarter excludes $0.8 million related to retention awards from a prior acquisition, or $0.01 per share.

“I am pleased with the results of our recently completed third quarter. We generated $475 million in fee revenue, up approximately 6% year-over-year, 10% at constant currency, with strong growth across all of our geographies and solutions. Adjusted EBITDA was $78 million, with an Adjusted EBITDA margin of 16.4 percent – an all-time high. We also continue to execute our balanced approach to capital deployment, repurchasing $14.7 million of our shares in the quarter, bringing our total recent share repurchases to nearly $100 million. We have increased our capacity to repurchase shares to a total remaining availability of $250 million. This move, in conjunction with our regular dividend, further drives our capital allocation strategy,” said Gary D. Burnison, CEO, Korn Ferry.

“We are redefining an industry. We are building a firm that has the scale and offerings that synchronize our clients’ strategy with their organization and people to help them drive superior performance,” added Burnison.

Highlights

• Korn Ferry reports fee revenue of $474.5 million in Q3 FY’19, an increase of 6% (10% on a constant currency basis) from Q3 FY’18, driven by organic growth in all segments.
• Operating income was $62.7 million in Q3 FY’19 with an operating margin of 13.2%. Adjusted EBITDA was $77.7 million with Adjusted EBITDA margin of 16.4%.
• Q3 FY’19 diluted earnings per share was $0.80 compared to diluted earnings per share of $0.48 in Q3 FY’18. Adjusted diluted earnings per share was $0.81 in Q3 FY’19 compared to Adjusted diluted earnings per share of $0.70 in Q3 FY’18.
• The Company continued with its balanced approach to capital allocation, buying back $14.7 million of stock during the quarter and declaring a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share on March 6, 2019 payable on April 15, 2019 to stockholders of record on March 26, 2019. In addition, on March 6, 2019, the Board of Directors approved an increase in our capacity to repurchase shares to a total remaining availability of $250 million. The shares may be repurchased from time to time in the open market or privately negotiated transactions, subject to market conditions and other factors.